2026 Annual Summit Program
The HIFTF Fentanyl & Addictions Summit is an annual event that brings together community members, service providers, first responders, and government leaders to address substance use, overdose prevention, and recovery.
Start Time | Agenda Item | Duration |
|---|---|---|
8:15 am | Registration | 45 min |
9:00 am | Morning Protocol | 5 min |
9:05 am | Opening/Welina | 5 min |
9:10 am | A Message from Mayor Kimo | 5 min |
9:15 am | Keynote Address: Janice Ikeda | 25 min |
9:40 am | Raffle: Round 1 | 5 min |
9:45 am | Public Safety and Behavioral Health Data Panel | 35 min |
10:20 am | Community Response and Action Panel | 35 min |
10:55 am | Raffle: Round 2 | 5 min |
11:00 am | Lunch & Resource Booths | 45 min |
11:50 am | Our Moʻolelo Video | 10 min |
12:00 pm | Cultural Pathways to Healing in Substance Use and Mental Health | 45 min |
12:45 pm | Raffle: Round 3 | 5 min |
12:50 pm | Voice, Truth, and the Human Impact of Addiction | 35 min |
1:25 pm | Integrated Healthcare: Substance Use, Mental Health, Pain and Cultural Healing | 45 min |
2:10 pm | Kūpuna and ʻŌpio Panel | 35 min |
2:45 pm | Raffle: Final Round | 5 min |
2:50 pm | Bowl of Light Award: Recognizing Dr. Kevin Kunz | 20 min |
3:10 pm | Evaluation and CEU Completion | 15 min |
3:25 pm | Closing Remarks | 5 min |
Featured Speakers
Our panelists represent a range of perspectives across healthcare, prevention, recovery, and community leadership. Together, they offer insight into the realities of substance use in Hawaiʻi and the pathways forward through collaboration, care, and cultural grounding.
2026 Keynote Address
Janice Ikeda is the Chief Executive Officer of Vibrant Hawaiʻi, a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening community resilience, economic stability, and civic participation across Hawaiʻi Island. With more than two decades of experience in public service and nonprofit leadership, she works at the intersection of community organizing, disaster preparedness, and systems change. Under her leadership, Vibrant Hawaiʻi has helped establish a network of community-based Resilience Hubs, expand youth work-based learning opportunities through the ʻŌAKA program, and mobilize residents to take collective action on housing, economic development, and disaster readiness. Janice’s work emphasizes place-based solutions that draw on local knowledge, relationships, and cultural values. She frequently convenes cross-sector partners to address complex community challenges and to ensure that local voices inform policy and planning. She holds an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from Gonzaga University in recognition of her contributions to community leadership and public service in Hawaiʻi.
Community Response and Action Panel
Peter Tuiolosega Silva is the CEO of Kumukahi Health + Wellness. Born in Hilo with over 27 years of public health experience, he is a dedicated advocate for Pacific Island communities. Tui has served as the United States HIV Trainer for the Pacific Islands and is the founder of UTOPIA Hawai'i. His extensive background includes 10 years each at the Department of Health and serving as the Director of Prevention Services at HHHRC. Tui has been a guest speaker for various public health conferences and frequently presents at national forums regarding health equity and evidence-based prevention strategies. His work is rooted in kuleana, focusing on bridging systemic gaps, to ensure health equity for Hawaiʻi Island's most diverse populations. Tui is an avid traveler and resides in Waiakea Uka with his partner of 28 years.
Sally Ancheta has led efforts to reduce addiction and substance misuse for 20 years on Hawai'i Island. As the former Hawai'i Island Coordinator for the American Lung Association of Hawai'i, she has a wealth of experience in tobacco prevention and control and health education. From 2010-2022, she coordinated and led the Hawai'i Island Tobacco-Free Coalition and the Healthy Eating/Active Living initiatives on Hawai‘i Island, programs of the Hawai'i Public Health Institute (HIPHI). She spearheaded the Raise the Age to 21 campaign, which raised the age of sale for all tobacco and vape products to 21, which became a federal law in 2019. In March 2022, she transitioned to overseeing the East Hawai‘i Drug-Free Coalition. She is a member of the State of Hawai‘i Dept. of Health, ADAD Prevention Advisory Council, and holds a BA from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.
Keala O Kekoa: A Community & Cultural Pathway to Substance Use Prevention and Treatment
Kumu Makanihouolanaʻihale Tabura is a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner, educator, and healer whose work centers on the restoration of identity, connection, and wellness through traditional Hawaiian practices. Raised on the island of Lānaʻi, Kumu Makani learned from an early age the importance of culture, ʻāina, and intergenerational responsibility. He has spent decades mentoring atrisk youth and teaching cultural values through partnerships with local and national organizations, including Nā Pua Noʻeau and the Native Hawaiian Education Association. Drawing on formal training in exercise science, health and wellness, hula, and traditional healing, Kumu Makani has developed culturally based health, fitness, and healing programs across Hawaiʻi. He currently serves as a cultural leader within substance use disorder treatment, integrating ʻike Hawaiʻi into recovery services to address trauma, foster belonging, and support longterm healing. His work emphasizes that culture itself is medicine.
Dr. Niki Wright is a licensed clinical psychologist and certified substance abuse counselor with over 20 years of experience advancing equitable, culturally responsive behavioral health care in Hawaiʻi. She serves as Director of Mālama Recovery Services, the intensive outpatient substance use disorder treatment program at Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, as well as the Health Centerʻs integrated chronic pain management department, Ho‘okūola Hale. Dr. Wright’s work focuses on addressing stigma, expanding access to care, and developing innovative, systemsbased responses to substance use, chronic pain, and trauma in medically underserved communities. She is also Chief Behavioral Health Officer at Wahiawā Center for Community Health, cofounder of IMUA Health Group, and a clinical psychologist for the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Education. A dedicated educator and speaker, Dr. Wright teaches at the graduate level and presents locally and nationally on substance use disorder treatment, pain management, and culturally grounded models of care.
Alessandra LuchesiRife is a boardcertified family nurse practitioner with nearly 20 years of experience in nursing and advanced clinical practice. She began her healthcare career in São Paulo, Brazil, and has since worked across a range of hospital, outpatient, and community health settings in the United States. Since 2015, Ms. LuchesiRife has served at Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, where she provides care within Ho‘okūola Hale and Mālama Recovery Services, supporting patients impacted by substance use disorders, chronic pain, and complex medical needs. Her clinical approach emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, patientcentered care, and functional recovery. Fluent in English and Portuguese and conversational in Spanish, she brings a culturally responsive lens to teambased care delivery. Ms. LuchesiRife plays a key role in integrated treatment models that address the intersection of opioid use, pain, and overall health within Hawaiʻi’s most underserved communities.
Travis Purdy is the founder and CEO of IMUA Health Group and a healthcare leader focused on improving access, engagement, and continuity of care for individuals affected by mental health and substance use disorders. With a background spanning business, operations, and healthcare technology, he has led initiatives that strengthen clinical workflows, expand telehealth services, and reduce barriers to treatment. Travis previously served as Telehealth Director of Clinical Operations at Wahiawā Health, where his leadership supported care access across diverse and underserved populations. His work is driven by a commitment to destigmatizing mental illness and substance use while building sustainable systems that support both patients and providers. A frequent speaker locally and nationally, Travis shares practical insights on innovation, leadership, and systems change in behavioral health. He is passionate about community partnership, workforce support, and advancing recoveryoriented care models in Hawaiʻi.
Voice, Truth, and the Human Impact of Addiction
Melanie Kainoa brings a lived experience perspective shaped by long-term addiction, justice system involvement, and significant personal loss. After multiple treatment attempts, a turning point in his health and circumstances led him to re-engage in recovery with intention and purpose. Today, he is pursuing a degree in Administrative Justice with a substance abuse emphasis and works with the Big Island Substance Abuse Council, where he supports others on their recovery journeys and continues working toward becoming a certified substance abuse counselor.
Kuʻuhauoliakaleinani "Oli" Giminiz-Brzezowski will share a deeply personal journey shaped by profound loss at a young age and the realities of addiction that followed. His path reflects both the pain of disconnection and the courage it takes to rebuild from within. Through accountability, faith, and the support of his community, he has reclaimed his life and continues to move forward in recovery. Oli brings an honest and powerful voice to the human side of addiction, healing, and what it means to choose change.
‘Inana: Healing Begins by Returning to Who We Are
Lilinoe Kauahikaua (she/her/ʻo ia) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) from Piʻihonua, Hilo on Moku o Keawe and serves as Education & Training Manager at Papa Ola Lōkahi. A doctoral student at USC and MSW graduate from UH Mānoa, her research and practice center Native Hawaiian approaches to addressing and healing from substance use and mental health challenges, emphasizing cultural grounding as essential to wellbeing. She serves on the boards of Going Home Hawaiʻi and Kinohi Mana Nui, is cultural committee co-chair for the Going Home Hawaiʻi Consortium, and also serves on the Hawaiʻi State Syringe Exchange Oversight Committee and the Hawaiʻi Substance Use Professional Development Initiative. Lilinoe is co-chair of the Hawaiʻi Advisory Commission on Drug Abuse and Controlled Substances and an ʻōlapa of Hālau Unuokeahi under Kumu Hula Stacey Kaʻauʻa, grounding her work in cultural practice.
Kauilanuimakehaikalani Keali‘ikanaka‘oleohaililani was born and raised in Hawaiʻi. He is an Indigenous Hawaiʻi artist, designer, practitioner of Hawaiʻi life ways and māhū, steeped in the cultural practice of Hula ‘Aiha’a ritual, chant and dance through Hālau o Kekuhi (Dance School) for over 25 years. He is a member of Hui Mālama I Na ʻIwi Kūpuna o Hawaiʻi under the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, repatriating Native Hawaiian remains and funerary objects back to Hawaiʻi. Kauila is a steward of ritual and ceremony of global cultural exchange (Kīpaepae) and a ʻUniki Graduate of Unukupukupu under the direction of Dr. Taupouri Tangaro and Kekuhi Keali‘ikanaka‘oleohaililani. A Kiaʻi ʻĀina Aloha and has stood in the protection of Mauna a Wākea (2019-2021). Kauila graduated with an Associates degree in Hula from Hawaiʻi Community College, a Bachelors in Fine Arts from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, and a Fashion Design degree from Parsons The New School for Design in New York City. Employed as an Project Coordinator and Facilitator under Lonoa Honua, he is a steward and continuing learner of Hālau ʻŌhiʻa under the direction of Kekuhi Keali‘ikanaka‘oleohaililani - dedicated to connecting people, places, and energies in the universe to one another through Hawaiʻi Life ways.
Aunty Kekuhi Kealiʻikanakaʻoleohaililani is a Native Hawaiian wahine and CEO of Lonoa Honua a for-profit organization dedicated to connecting people to the wonder of honua. She is the lead of Hālau ʻŌhiʻa, a Hawaiʻi kinship training program for professionals that serve conservation, cultural resources, education, health and many other professionals across the Pae ʻĀina, Moku Honu, Iapana, and the Moananuiākea. Kekuhi is the Acting Executive Director of the recently established, Kā Mauli Hou, a 501-C3 non-profit organization demonstrating commitment of aloha ʻāina through land rematriation, community ritual and ʻōhiʻa repopulation. Kekuhi is also the volunteer editor for the Hiʻiaka-Ke-Kaula Series published by Edith Kanakaole Foundation Publishing. An award-winning educator, chanter, Nā Hōkū Hanohano Female Vocalist, and Innovator in Conservation, Kekuhi continues to elevate ancestral wisdom through chant, ritual, conscious leadership and hands on the honua.
Kūpuna and ʻŌpio: He ʻaʻaliʻi kū makani mai au,
Standing strong in difficult winds
Haku Lahela Kruse, Social Worker, Substance Abuse Counselor and Traditional Cultural
Practitioner for 25+ years. Lahela gifted with the kuleana to carry the legacy of Ho`oku`u ka hewa/Ho`oponopono under the guidance of esteemed kupuna, Pearl Ulunuiokamamalu Kanaka'ole Garmon and Uncle Likeke and Aunty Lynette Paglinawan.
Lahela is currently working using a Native Hawaiian lens with the prison kane and wahine for re-entry to the kaiaulu.
Zoe Gacayan is a dedicated community volunteer and Native Hawaiian health advocate. She was recently crowned Miss Kona Coffee 2026 and has demonstrated strong leadership in a youth against vaping coalition, she has been actively involved in prevention and education efforts. She brings a youth perspective to discussions on opioid use and its impact on our ʻōpio and their families.
Kai Carvalho serves as Public Relations Director and a Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist with Hāmākua-Kohala Health. Her work centers on community engagement, prevention, and supporting individuals in reducing tobacco use through education, outreach, and culturally responsive care.